A-viewer

Maybe this is a little premature but I'm already kinda writing off this year, at least from a political and social perspective. I expect nothing good to come from our election cycle and the world feels like it's already fallen into an inescapable well of climate-related despair. These are grim times to be living in.

Now from a personal perspective, things look a little brighter. I made it to 40 locally out and trans, enjoying a stable relationship, am back to being employed again with better pay than I had before, finally not sick anymore (other than a recurring cough here or there thanks to lingering pulmonary adema) and I feel reenergized with how Kim and I are coming up with more ideas for the Gateworld and other creative projects.

Does that mean I'm finally finishing Crownstone? Well... I'd like to be able to say, but there hasn't been much movement on it for a while. I notice that people are more interested in the worldbuilding these days and not my rather stiff writing, so the former is getting more focus. I hate leaving anything unfinished so I'll likely keep working on it for completion's sake, but it'll take a while.

Sorry for sounding like a Doomer. I'm just tired. Best of luck in 2024 for anyone still reading <3 ~P.

And Hello 2023.

As I prepare to move on to a new state and apartment, I'm hoping that it will be the impetus to shake off inertia, get my creative self together and keep writing--for the Gateworld and otherwise. Even if it doesn't turn out that way, I'm ecstatic to finally be free as a trans woman and live on my own terms. Oh sure, it'll be stressful and scary but as I'm only getting older and don't have eternity to wait for the time to be "right," sometimes you just have to take the plunge.

May your 2023 challenge and excite and inspire as well. Thank you for reading! =)

https://youtu.be/_pfiOwh431M

~P.

... dA really shit its own bed this time.

I've already seen a fair number of my favorite artists jump ship over the flawed implementation of Eclipse, but that was nothing compared to how badly dA handled the issue of AI-generated art. You should NOT have to opt out to keep your art from being stolen, that screws over artists who have minimal dA presence, lost their account access, have died, etc. This is plainly unethical implementation, and it feels like--despite dA's corrective scrambling--that this malign intent and greed was a feature and not a bug.

That being said... I'm not going anywhere. I'm a writer, and no algorithm would favor me here anyway. But I will take down art from contributors to my works if they ask me to in the process of leaving dA.

That is all for now. Remember to check your Account settings if you plan on staying.

~P.

Been quiet on the creative front, not really much to report. My worldbuilding itch has been scratched by running multiple D&D games for the past few months. It doesn't leave much time for Gateworld writings, though if you want more of those there's still my FurAffinity profile. I have one big loar already written, but it needs a few things before it's ready to post. I'm sure that excuse sounds familiar.

I've been on hormones since January, and it feels fucking great. There's still a lot of fear and anxiety I'm coping with that's keeping me from transitioning publicly. It will have to be a long and gradual process but it will happen. I've come too far to give up on it now.

Since dA seems to enjoy culling KimRinzley's art from a lot of my older Sta.sh-based writings, I'll be posting that art here in standalone entries over the next few days. Some of it will be reference materials (maps and the like) while others will be portraits. It's old and doesn't really represent the standards of her current work (which is amazing and lovely and you should really check it out if you haven't) but I still enjoy them regardless. Hopefully you will too.

Take care, and watch this space~

-P.

Been feeling pretty drained for the past few months, and it's been harder and harder to find any inspiration. Maybe it's seasonal affective disorder, maybe it's the onward grind of depression from staring at our doomed rock for too long, maybe it's just the return of another decade's worth of writer's block. I can't tell, and that's pretty disheartening.

Creatively speaking though, it hasn't been a bad year. While I didn't finish Crownstone, my Furaffinity account has remained fairly steady up until the past couple months. You're welcome to go check that out if you're starved for Gateworld lore. More will be coming eventually, I've had a fully written entry waiting in the wings for a while and it just needs a few finishing touches before it can be posted.

As for my personal life, well... I'm now down one gall bladder, after suffering for six months from mysterious pains that had me scared for a while. And I hope to start estrogen next year, but it's pretty touch and go so far. We'll see.

Anyway: Happy Holidays, and try to enjoy life when you can.

~P.